Flickers of Fire
by PureKagome
Summary: Written for day 2 of InuKag week 2k16 (Care) "Just give it here, wench!" "No! I'll do it my- OW!" The lighter flew from her hand in an instant and her index finger shot up to her mouth.
"Why won't this frickin thing start!" Kagome yelled, exasperated and beyond frustrated. The annoying ' _click click_ ' sound of the lighter repeated followed by another of Kagome's kitten like growls.

After a long day of traveling (longer than most for Kagome because of, eh hem, feminine annoyances), the group had settled down for the evening away from the dirt path and under the cover of the trees. Everyone was assigned a job. Miroku and Sango had gone to scout out a water source and refill water bottles, get cooking water and other things of that sort. Shippo, Inuyasha and Kirara had ran off to gather copious firewood and catch something for them all to eat (much to Inuyasha's discourage) while Kagome, gathered small stones and started a small fire while she waited for Inuyasha, Shippo, and Kirara to come back with more. Well, she was _trying_ to start a fire. However, her lighter was seriously starting to _piss her off._ She'd been at it for almost 10 minutes! She was far past the point of when she was allowed to become irritable. Dark was quickly approaching and the wind was picking up, which was not helping her in her project once so ever.

"That's it! I give!" A frown settled deep into her face as she snarled again and threw the lighter at a nearby tree. Well, that's where she'd aimed. A startled yell came from the direction she had chucked the infernal contraption and it flew just past Inuyasha's head. Surprised by the tiny metal object flying whizzing his head, Inuyasha nearly dropped the pile of wood under his arm on his foot.

"Wench! What the hell!?" Inuyasha snapped at her, a glare quickly thrown in her direction.

"Whoops?" Kagome smiled sheepishly as she stood to help him pick up the wood he'd dropped in his shock.

"Where are Shippo and Kirara?" She glared at the lighter only a foot away and scooped it up. Her volatile mood making a reappearance, she stomped over to her spot in front of the small wood pile that had previously been accumulated and threw the wood in her arms on top of it imprudently.

"I told em to start skinnin and guttin the fish. I hadda come back here and make sure ya didn't get yourself killed or anything." He gathered the rest of the wood and sat across from her, the wood placed at his side.

She got back to work, a look of determination on her face, along with that of impatience. She clicked the lighter again, the noise quickly getting on her nerves.

Inuyasha watched from across the "fire" with an amused look on his face. That was until the noise progressively started to annoy him as well. The same look of irritation that had been on her face prior to his arrival, appeared on his face.

"Kagome, give me the damn thing. I'll-"

"Like hell you will. I can do it." She cut him off, her tone clipped. His eyes widened for a second at her use of words. She almost never swore. He growled at her, though it lacked any real force.

"Just give it here, wench!" Her eyes snapped up to his and she glared harshly at him.

"No! I'll do it my- OW!" The lighter flew from her hand in an instant and her index finger shot up to her mouth. She had finally got the lighter to spark and start a small flame. However, she was too busy yelling at the hanyou in order to pay attention to what she was doing, so when it caught, her index finger had been right under the wic and had burnt the tip of her index finger.

"See, look what'cha did to yourself?" Inuyasha barked and crawled over to her. She was about to make a retort back at him but her finger hurt too much to remove it from the appeasing warmth of her mouth, so she said nothing, content with a frown in his direction.

Inuyasha picked up the lighter and with one click, was able to ignite the wood. Kagome's mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide as the flames danced in front of her, lighting up Inuyasha's smug face.

Great.

He snatched her wrist and inspected her finger, his expression becoming more serious. It wasn't too bad but it needed to be taken care of before it began to cause her more pain.

"You outta be more careful, ya hear?" He gave her a stern look and snatched her bag. He dug through it, looking for some water, never letting go of her wrist. He grumbled under his breath. All of the water bottles were with Miroku and Sango and who knew how long those two would be gone for. He sighed and popped her finger into his mouth as her searched threw her bag, hiding his face from her which was now a bright red. She yelled indignantly at him, her face also exhibiting a bright pink. She tried to pull her finger away only to have him growl low in his throat and vibrate all the way up her arm. After that she sat still without a fuss.

He, of course, had been victim to many burns before though none so insignificant as this. Kagome had treated him well with warm water and some sort of gooey, green, stuff that cooled the burn. She had used it once before, he hoped itd still be sitting in her bag somewhere since they hadn't had much use of it lately.

He frowned, his embarrassment forgotten as her finger still hung in the corner of his mouth, as he dug through her bag. His eyes lightened as he saw the clear container with the green goo inside. He quickly snatched it and some gauze from her medical box.

He looked up at her, her face still a pretty pink as he rolled his tongue over the tip of her finger a couple times before slowly pulling it out of his mouth.

She suppressed a moan as he rolled his tongue over her injury. The warmth of his mouth felt so good around the sting of her burn. She opened her eyes when the feel of the cool night's air made her shiver and she looked up at Inuyasha, his gaze solely focused on getting a modest amount of aloe vera lotion onto her burn. He gently lathered the cream onto her index finger.

Kagome squealed under his attentions and the feel of the the cool cream against her sizzling skin. Then, he pulled a length from the roll of gauze and clipped it with his fangs. Slowly and delicately, he twirled it around her wound and tucked in the end. He looked up, his expression much more relaxed, making sure her face held no pain. He was surprised (and relieved) to see she was smiling softly at him.

"Thanks. And sorry for yelling at you earlier." She turned her gaze downward, staring at her finger and flexing it slowly.

He scoffed at her and rolled his eyes. "Keh. It was nothin, wench. Wouldnt've happened if ya weren't so careless." He smirked at her, proud of his quick thinking. He blinked suddenly. Why was she crying and smiling at the same time? Wasn't she just happy?

"Oi. Kagome? What is it? Is it still hurtin ya?" His eyes grew worrisome and his tone soft. He reached towards her finger to investigate but she shook her head and wiped away her tears, still smiling at him.

"No. The burn is fine. You did a great job. It's just been a long, hard day for me." She shrugged and moved to get out a sleeping bag. However, Inuyasha latched onto her arm and yanked her back, pulling her into his lap and she released a small 'eep!'. Continuing to lightly grip her arm, he drew small patterns in the fabric of her sleeve, careful not to catch the thin white garment on his claws. He rested his chin on her shoulder and looked up at her.

"Cramps and stuff?" He asked delicately, knowing the subject was touchy with her and well… most other girls really. She breathed an annoyed sigh and nodded, resting her head on his opposite shoulder.

"Y-Ya need me to like, rub your shoulders or somethin?" He gave her a strange look and she giggled.

"Who are you what did you do with my Inuyasha?" She said teasingly. He snorted and wrapped her arms around her waist, soothingly rubbing in the general area of her discomfort.

"Feh. Don't get use to it. As soon as the others get back, I ain't gonna be so sappy, so savor it while it lasts."

"Tch. Well in that case, I hope they don't ever come ba-ack." Her last words were long and exaggerated as a moan ripped through her throat. "That feels really nice." She lulled her head over to one side, exposing her neck. He, experimentally, placed a chaste kiss along her delicate column and another hushed moan leapt through her lips. A low grumble vibrated through Inuyasha's chest, equivalent to that of a hum of appreciation. Rapidly, it climbed in volume as Kagome's soft, heated breath puffed against his neck.

"K-Kagome…"

"HOUSHI-SAMA!" A sudden yell broke through the calm atmosphere accompanied by a loud _thump!_ Miroku fell through the shrubs in front of the pair and they screamed, jumping from each other like they were on fire. Sango followed, stomping and narrowly stepping over Miroku's head with her arms full with the water bottles. Shippo and Kirara were close behind, sticks over their shoulders with gutted and skinned fish hanging down from strings. Shippo, glared at Miroku and _did_ kick Miroku in the head.

"Idiot."


End file.
